Summary

Julius Onah wants to approach the reset with a fresh take while honoring the legacy of Steve Rogers’ films.

Harrison Ford’s commitment to his Red Hulk performance along with the humanizing empathy of Sam Wilson anchor Captain America: Brave New World.

The director explains how he got access to characters from The Incredible Hulk and what it’s like playing in the Marvel sandbox.

After veteran Marvel directors Joe and Anthony Russo’s star power shot through the roof with the grounded spy thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its heavy-hitting follow-up Captain America: Civil War, director of Luce and The Cloverfield Paradox, Julius Onah, looks to follow along in those prestigious footsteps as he restarts the franchise with Captain America: Brave New World.
Proceeding some of the most well-received projects throughout the MCU’s long (and ever-growing) list of 47 movies and TV shows might seem like a daunting task to some, but as a self-proclaimed “preparation junkie,” Onah was eager to capitalize on the Captain America franchise’s fresh start while respecting the legacy of the mantle.
Sitting down with Collider, the director explained the process of including characters from The Incredible Hulk, in addition to getting candid on working with a “committed” Harrison Ford, and why the character of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) resonates with him. You can watch the full interview in the video above or check out the transcript below.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Director Julius Onah His ‘Incredible Hulk’ Inclusions

“From the very beginning I got access to those characters.”

COLLIDER: How did the production process in the MCU differ from something like The Cloverfield Paradox?
JULIUS ONAH: What was really great about this is the amount of time you have to prepare. I had a great team around me from the very beginning, working with the visual development team, Ryan Meinerding, Ian Joyner over at Marvel, and then amazing storyboard artists, great previs teams. A lot of time and care is taken in preparation, and I am a preparation junkie. That allowed me to really take the vision that I had that I pitched the team at Marvel and find a way to put it on paper or put it in previs so everybody could react to what I wanted to do. Then, we built the movie from there.
Beautiful. Speaking of The Cloverfield Paradox, it’s rife with compelling narrative twists, and it kind of devolves into chaos. How much of what you learned there is encoded in Brave New World?
ONAH: That was the first opportunity for me to work with blue screen, to do wire work, to do work with previs and real visual effects. So it was really about taking that learning experience and applying it here, what works, maybe what doesn’t work. But that’s a very different film from this in terms of the scale. This is a much bigger enterprise with way more moving pieces. So, I was glad to learn on something a little bit smaller, but really excited to be able to take that and push this further.
Absolutely.

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What about the character of Sam Wilson resonates with you?
ONAH: Sam’s superpower is his empathy. I love the idea of being able to tell the story of a grounded hero. He doesn’t have a conventional set of superpowers. He’s not a billionaire. He’s a guy who’s using his heart and his soul, and he’s just working his ass off to do what he does. And he really cares about people. I love the idea of having that be the focus of a story, especially one that is a sort of paranoid political thriller, because it puts to test his desire to have empathy, especially when he’s opposite somebody like Thaddeus Ross, who he’s got this real history with. Thaddeus imprisoned him in Civil War. He tore apart the Avengers with the Sokovia Accords. So now you’ve got Sam, who’s looking to connect with people, opposite somebody who he can’t trust. That creates a great engine of a thriller. And the back-and-forth between Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford in this film is so exciting to watch.
Yeah, they’ve got a great dynamic.

Image via Marvel Studios

While most credit Iron Man as the movie that kicked off the MCU, it’s technically The Incredible Hulk. Captain America: Brave New World is set to incorporate elements from that movie. How early on in the process did you get access to those characters, and is that a personal choice or more of a directive from the higher-ups?
ONAH: From the very beginning I got access to those characters. They were all things that were on the table. As we talked, we refined further. What was so great about the collaboration with Marvel for me was, despite whatever was there, there was the opportunity to shape it further. So I really tried to push things in a direction that focused on the characters that could work in this tone of a grounded, paranoid political thriller, which really meant it was a story about heart and intellect. Even though it goes to fantastic places with a guy with Wakandan wings and a gigantic Red Hulk, emotionally and psychologically, it always stays grounded and relatable, and that’s a testament to Marvel that they gave me the opportunity to really see my vision through.
Harrison Ford’s Commitment Is Key to His ‘Brave New World’ Performance

“There were subtle things he was doing that would be a part of the evolution of this character you can track.”

Image via Marvel Studios

Obviously, the Steve Rogers trilogy precedes this film. Did you look at those films as inspiration, or are you kind of trying to approach this as a fresh start?
ONAH: Both. This is a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to work as a reset for the MCU and everything that’s going to come forward. But those are incredible films, and I wanted to respect that legacy of Captain America. So again, you have a movie like Winter Soldier that’s influenced by The Parallax View. I looked at different political and paranoid thrillers from that era. Movies like Day of the Jackal, movies like Point Blank or Le Samouraï. So you have some of that flavor but a distinctiveness that is specific to Sam Wilson.
Yeah, I think you can feel that in the movie as well.
ONAH: Thank you, sir.
What’s it like to see Harrison Ford Hulk out?
ONAH: It is amazing. You know, Harrison is so committed to what he does, but he’s also so grounded, so he didn’t want to overthink it. But at the same time, he understood that there had to be a clear emotional trajectory from Thaddeus Ross to Red Hulk. So, there were choices he was making. There were subtle things he was doing that would be a part of the evolution of this character you can track that I just love. Then we also really made sure in the mocap process that we were getting nuance in behavior and emotional details in his eyes, especially that you can see in Red Hulk. That emotional journey that he takes, especially in relation to Sam, is how we make this story work, and really also convey the theme to the audience.
Sure. What was the hardest part about directing this movie?
ONAH: Making sure that the tone completely stays consistent and that the emotional journey is there across the board. I didn’t want it to ever feel like, “Here’s the dramatic scenes, and now here’s the stunt sequence. And now, here’s a visual effects sequence.” I was very fortunate that even within some of the action sequences, it’s not that bunch of stuff just got punted to second unit. I got to direct that stuff, and then also make sure that the visual language stayed consistent with everything that was being done. So it’s one cohesive movie.
It feels really cohesive as well. Sam is such a unique character, largely because of his wings. Did you have fun filming those intricate fight scenes, and what are the biggest challenges and rewards there with that?
ONAH: I loved it. I loved it. We have some of the best stunt and fight coordinators in the world. And the team that came on to this brought so much heart and soul and wanted to make sure that working with me, we could push things even further. Again, this is a Captain America who doesn’t have conventional superpowers, so I really wanted a gritty and intense kind of action, and action that told you something about who he was.
I joke about this all the time, but there’s a sequence early on where Sam uses a break to take out a bunch of mercs, and what was great about that for me is it’s badass, but it’s also telling you something about who he is as a character. He improvises, he gets scrappy, he uses what’s around him to be able to execute. That was something that was really fun to think about across the board in all the action in the film.
I love that.
What’s the Future of Captain America Like in the MCU?

“This is a movie that cements Captain America—and Sam Wilson as our new Captain America—as a leader of the Avengers going forward.”

Do you have any ideas on where to take the next film if that’s something you get to take on? Have you had any chats about that?
ONAH: All I’ll say is, right now, my heart and soul is in this film, but I think this is a movie that cements Captain America—and Sam Wilson as our new Captain America—as a leader of the Avengers going forward. So I’m just really excited about getting this out in the world.
How long do you want to see Sam be in that role?
ONAH: As long as Anthony Mackie wants to do it. I’m super, super excited because I think he’s bringing something really fresh to it that complements what Steve Rogers and Chris Evans did but also makes it feel very specific to this moment. I don’t joke around at all when I talk about the theme of empathy. I think it’s so important and this idea of seeing the good in each other is something that I thought could resonate across the world. So, I was very excited to tell this story.
Especially in today’s day and age, certainly we could all use a little bit more empathy.
ONAH: Exactly.
What’s your biggest lesson or takeaway from this film that you’ll keep with you forever and apply?
ONAH: Always stay open. I try to make a point of doing that, but this was a real opportunity to stay open to all the different possibilities of what could come because of the discovery that comes from that is what surprises the audience. I really, really loved that in this experience.
Yeah, the MCU is sort of this massive playground. What’s it like to be in that sandbox?
ONAH: It’s a thrill. It’s not something I ever thought I’d have the opportunity to do. And the fact that Kevin [Feige] and Nate [Moore] and the team there opened that door for me, I’m so grateful for. These movies have captured the imagination of people all around the world, and it’s because it’s about heart. It’s about these characters. That’s a lesson I can apply to anything I’m doing. Take care of your characters, and your audience will fall in love with them.
Captain America: Brave New World releases in theaters on February 14.